Friday, 28 November 2014

Ragnarok is upon the worlds, and the time to fight
is now. They come from all of the Nine Realms. Dark Elves, Dragons, Frost
Giants, Elves ... They all come to fight for Odin.

And they answer to Valkyrie
Brynhildr.

While Bryn grieves, struggling to cope with
Sigrun's death, she knows too there is no time for tears. Odin is still a shade
of himself and though there is no sign of Loki in all of the Nine Realms - Thor
knows he is hiding in Midgard. As the Warriors gather, Bryn must head the offensive
and enter the Human Realm in search of the Trickster and his
henchman.

The war is silent and it rages all across the
planet.

Ragnarok is here ...

In this, the 4th thrilling instalment in the
Valkyrie series, Bryn takes the war to home turf. From New York to London,
Interpol to CIA, Bryn and her team risk their lives to save their families, to
the All-Father. And to prevent the end of the
world.

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I have been a writer from the time I was old enough to
recognize that reading was a doorway into my imagination. Poetry was my first
foray into the art of the written word. Books were my best friends, my escape,
my haven. I am essentially a recluse but this part of my personality is
impossible to practice given I have two teenage daughters, who are actually my
friends, my tea-makers, my confidantes... I am blessed with a husband who has
left me for golf. It's a fair trade as I have left him for writing. We are both
passionate supporters of each others loves - it works
wonderfully...

My heart is currently broken in two. One half resides in
South Africa where my old roots still remain, and my heart still longs for the
endless beaches and the smell of moist soil after a summer downpour. My love
for Ma Afrika will never fade. The other half of me has been transplanted to
the Land of the Long White Cloud. The land of the Taniwha, beautiful Maraes,
and volcanoes. The land of green, pure beauty that truly inspires. And because
I am so torn between these two lands - I shall forever remain
cross-eyed.

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subscribing to Tee's newsletter HERE.

Book 5 in the Valkyrie series
releasing early 2015

Ragnarok is upon the worlds, and
the time to fight is now. They come from all of the Nine Realms. Dark Elves,
Dragons, Frost Giants, Elves ... They all come to fight for Odin.And they answer to Valkyrie Brynhildr.Tricked by Loki, Bryn is
now imprisoned and finding a way out is harder than it seems. Time is running
out for those who fight for Odin and while Aidan's absence is felt by all, Bryn
and her team know there is no time to waste.But Bryn is determined
to find him, and stop him using every means necessary. From poisoned water to
black goo, to an electronically monitored Bifrost, Bryn will use all the tricks
up her sleeves to save Odin and the Nine Realms.The war is nature
and there is disaster all across the Nine Realms.Ragnarok is here
...

In this, the 5th, and final, exhilarating
installment in the Valkyrie series, Bryn takes on Loki with her eye on bringing
him to the Vigrid Plains, the site of the final battle of Ragnarok. From all
across the world, Bryn and all her teams do all they can, battling naturals disasters
and murderous attackers to prevent the end of the world.

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is Giles Kristian's first fully published short fiction and fits snuggly before God of Vengeance which leads ultimately to the Raven Trilogy.The title is the most un-nordic of his viking historical fiction so far and the cover immediately made me think of haunted woods, siedr magic and angry volva's cackling on a stormy night. But it also made me think of a very important question - what could possibly be a 'terror' to a warrior-like northman? Who is willing to sail the seas without guarantee of his return? Who is ready to charge into battle without guarantees he will live to see victory?My answers were shame, dishonour, betrayal - more inphysical things, virtues that all the northmen held close to their hearts.I am not entirely sure if I am happy or not that these virtues weren't explored within The Terror, although they do feature heavily within his earlier Viking books. The Terror - is a tale with a twist in the tale and a cover and title that don't fully match with the content within I feel.Without giving too much away the tale is about Sigurd the Lucky's (God of Vengeance/Raven)father, Jarl Harald and is a tale from the days when he was young and trying to prove himself. It involves a most unusual challenge which sets him and his friends against something indeed called 'The Terror' but I will leave it for curious readers to discover what the Terror actually is/was.There is some battles, fighting, danger, excitement and thrills and quite a surprising amount of nudity in a way most readers wouldn't expect. The language as always with Giles is evocative, enchanting and well-crafted but as a reader who quickly devoured his earlier Viking works The Terror left me a bit empty - it didn't make a huge impact. Whether that's due to the nature of it being a short story or because all in all the story was fairly straight-lined, also perhaps due its compact nature.But for readers new to him, his world, his characters and his talent I believe it makes a good enough taster of what readers can discover in the books following this little prequel.View all my reviews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow! Hereward simply can't be beaten and can survive seas, shipwreck, desert, ambush, imprisonment, power plotting and more! It is out of the fire of William the Conqueror and into the bubbling cauldron of rival family factions, power politics and a dagger hiding not just behind every corner but in every word and look. Another heart pounding adventure. Looking forward to what happens next...
It is good to meet the familiar faces of the original trilogy and observe how they face off against the many challenges in this new journey and new land from elements to people, both on land and on sea. It is also really exciting to meet new fresh faces, both friend and foe alike and I especially like a particular female character that features repeatedly in Hereward and the gang's new adventures.
This fourth book continues to show that James Wilde is a master at starting off several strands of storyline and weaving them all into an patterned storytelling that grips the reader with each turn of the page and is a pattern that shifts like the sands so the reader can never predict or dare guess what will happen next. Each chapter packs a punch, a surprise, a delight, occasional relief but being replaced by more drama and intrigue than the tales of Hereward vs Normans. And the best thing is.... this is just the beginning for Hereward and the Gang - happily ever after doesn't exist for warriors of a conquered country, strangers in a strange land, where deciet is as common as water and where their famous struggle in England means nothing to the nobles of the Empire or the Varangian Guard.View all my reviews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
An incredibly refreshing and quite reinvigorating retelling of the norse gods and their legends. Learnt many new details about the Gods and their events as well as recountered familiar with legends from a new aspect.View all my reviews

Monday, 15 September 2014

Title: Dead Wrath (Valkyrie, #4)
Author: T.G. Ayer
Expected Release Date: November 2014
Publisher: Infinite Ink
Add to GoodreadsPre-Order Link
Ragnarok is upon the worlds, and the time to fight is now. They come from all
of the Nine Realms. Dark Elves, Dragons, Frost Giants, Elves... they all come
to fight for Odin.

And they answer to Valkyrie Brynhildr.

While Bryn grieves, struggling to cope with Sigrun's death, she knows too there
is no time for tears. Odin is still a shade of himself and though there is no
sign of Loki in all of the Nine Realms - Thor knows he is hiding in Midgard. As
the Warriors gather, Bryn must head the offensive and enter the Human Realm in
search of the Trickster and his henchman.

The war is silent and it rages all across the planet.

Ragnarok is here...

In this, the 4th thrilling instalment in the Valkyrie series, Bryn takes the
war to home turf. From New York to London, Interpol to CIA, Bryn and her team
risk their lives to save their families, to the All-Father. And to prevent the
end of the world.

Click on the covers below to read my FULL review of the previous 3 books.

I have been a writer from the time I was old enough to
recognize that reading was a doorway into my imagination. Poetry was my first
foray into the art of the written word. Books were my best friends, my escape,
my haven. I am essentially a recluse but this part of my personality is
impossible to practice given I have two teenage daughters, who are actually my
friends, my tea-makers, my confidantes… I am blessed with a husband who has left
me for golf. It’s a fair trade as I have left him for writing. We are both
passionate supporters of each others loves – it works wonderfully…

My heart is currently broken in two. One half resides
in South Africa where my old roots still remain, and my heart still longs for
the endless beaches and the smell of moist soil after a summer downpour. My
love for Ma Afrika will never fade. The other half of me has been transplanted
to the Land of the Long White Cloud. The land of the Taniwha, beautiful Maraes,
and volcanoes. The land of green, pure beauty that truly inspires. And because
I am so torn between these two lands – I shall forever remain cross-eyed.

Thursday, 7 August 2014

As we build up to the latest and currently last (need more history events please!) features in my 2014 Year of the Viking blog post series, involving the third talk from Jorvik DIG on Vikings in Normandy and History Live 2014 with Giles Kristian (author of Raven Bloodeye/Sons of Thunder/Odin's Wolves/God of Vengeance). I am going to take a slight detour but it is still pretty much viking orientated.

This particular event happened after my final Jorvik DIG talk and occured the Friday night before attending History Live 2014 and this event was one pretty much the whole country experienced in one form or another that weekend, it was entirely free to watch and was....of course....the freaky power of the masses of UK Thunder Storms!

I was staying with a relative in Northamptonshire, not far from Kelmarsh Hall where History Live takes place and at around 10.30ish pm Friday night, the skies went black, the thunder rolled and crazy lightening adorned the skies above. It was AWESOME!

Thankfully I had the clever idea to film it all with the intention of watching it all back and taking snapshots of the light show Thor put on for us all, (I believe it was Thor giving his blessing to Giles Kristian who was making another appearance at History Live). Yet when I got home after a very fun weekend of being wet with rain for half a day then wet with sweat from intense heat the other half, (more details to come in a future post) my Fiance showed me a magic trick on the computer - how to slow down the video milisecond by milisecond frame and take snapshots of each bit of lightening I saw.

Well at first all I saw was glows in the clouds, pretty but not as cool as actual lightening, and then...with each frame I went through, I discovered lightening bolts, lightening forks, sheet lightening, triple forked lightening and basically more and more lightening!

Thor had indeed put on a spectacular show of power and light that stormy night.

I was so excited and impressed by what I had caught that I quickly mastered a simple video programme to put all the snapshots of frames into a video montage with a quite near perfect soundtrack.

Please watch and behold the power of the mightiest God in Asgard - THOR!

I also dedicate this video and the joy it creates to my fav viking author Giles Kristian - for without his presence Thor might not have been as happy as he was to remind us all why he rules the thunderclouds.

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Introducing Myself...

I originate from North Yorkshire having been born in the old Viking capital of the north, Jorvik aka York.
I am fascinated with Viking culture, history,legends and myths. Soon I began weaving such tales into my own stories. I am also a big fan of historical novels set in the Middle Ages/Viking Era.
Due to an amount of small success I have had with one short story 'The Old Ways Never Die' I am currently developing that story further into a full length novel titled 'Soul Chaser'. Please visit 'Brief and Blurb' section for more details.